2014/01/29

I processed a request for a new book, The Yarn Whisperer: My Unexpected Life in Knitting by Clara Parkes. I knew, of course, about the 1995 book that started it all, The Horse Whisperer, Nicholas Evans's first, hugely successful novel, which became a motion picture starring Robert Redford.

"He is the stuff of legend. His voice can calm wild horses and his touch
heal broken spirits. For secrets uttered softly into pricked and
troubled ears, such men were once called Whisperers. Now Tom Booker,
the inheritor of this ancient gift, is to meet his greatest challenge." - publisher's description

The Horse Whisperer sounds like a shaman or a wizard. Some reviewers characterized Evans's novel as "new age". He talks to the animals, like Doctor Doolittle or Saint Francis. He has a higher awareness and sensitivity, a capacity for deep intimacy and understanding.

I was vaguely aware that other books had followed with "whisperer" in their titles. As with the "French lifestyle" books a few months ago, I thought it would be fun to see what the body of "whisperer" books looked like. There proved to be so many that I was almost sorry I looked!

Though a novel, The Horse Whisperer fathered a genre of self-help and memoir writing. The most successful writer of "Whisperer" self-help books has to be Tracy Hogg, whose 2001 title, Secrets of the Baby Whisperer, and several sequels, plus a 2002 television series, The Baby Whisperer, surely helped popularize the "Whisperer" as a self-help "brand".

Other subjects of the "Whisperer" treatment include dogs, children, students, teens, men, (dudes, husbands, frogs), bullies, ("jerks"), and ghosts. I didn't see any "Wife Whisperer" or "Girlfriend Whisperer" books.

2014/01/11

Around 2003-4 our library systems guy built a tool which, among other things, let us automate request processing for new materials and materials not owned, Before the "Materials Request Database", (MRD), requests for new materials were handled by moving paper cards around in file drawers. The MRD could also flag requests if the patrons had expired or delinquent accounts. It could generate e-mail notices to patrons. It could place holds for patrons as new materials were cataloged. It was also linked to OCLC, letting us send interlibrary loan renewal requests without having to log in to OCLC.

But over time, upgrades to our SIRSI library system and to OCLC have broken things in the MRD. The man who built it retired long ago.

In December 2013 we migrated to ILLiad, an OCLC product for interlibrary loan and document delivery. We have adapted it to handle new materials requests as well.

Patrons now must create an ILLiad account to make new or ILL requests, but they can track their requests, which they have not been able to do for some time. Staff can search OCLC, Ingram, Amazon and Google all in the client's request window. Patrons are now limited to five active requests, which ought to ease the load on our overburdened book selection and ILL staff.

We are still working the bugs out, but it is surprising how quickly our patrons have adapted. Very quickly after we made ILLiad available at the beginning of January, they began to sign up and submit requests. We are also creating accounts for patrons who cannot do it themselves.

We are unveiling a new library web site very soon, with a cleaner look, integrated into the main Leon County site.